At the Australian Open, tennis is just one of the attractions

Tennis may not be everyone’s favorite sport, but it’s arguably one of the hottest cultural properties right now. And if Zendaya’s 2024 hit movie Challengers didn’t make the case for it already, the influencer frenzy and TikTok content surrounding events like the US Open certainly has.

According to Tennis Australia’s director of partnerships and international business, Roddy Campbell, however, the Australian Open probably gets a little less love than the other Grand Slams.

“We don’t have Manhattan or Paris on our doorstep,” Campbell told Retail Brew. “We are quite isolated from the world, so we have to really work hard to draw people down to Melbourne and to keep people from Australia coming year on year.”

That’s also partly why event producers have aggressively leaned into brand activations and sponsorships. The 2025 Australian Open counted more than 50 sponsors, up 35% from 2024, including retailers and brands such as Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Shake Shack, New Balance, Marriott, Mastercard, Chubb, Mars, and Roblox—and this year’s event is expected to add even more names to that list.

“We really focus on [the players’] experience as a whole part of the road labor arena that is dedicated to their experience, whether it’s top restaurants, hairdressers, salons, and spas,” Campbell said. “That pays off in how engaged the players are and willing to work with us.”

While Wimbledon is “primarily about the tennis,” topped with some great hospitality, per Campbell, the Australian Open follows what he calls a “pillar strategy.”

“We’ve focused on developing these pillars of food, fashion, family, and technology so there are music festivals every night, there is a gaming hub, there’s a kids’ theme park, there’s pop-up restaurants,” he added. “A huge proportion of our audience doesn’t watch any tennis, which is quite different to the other events…Tennis is only part of the story at the Australian Open.”

The other part of the story, as Campbell explained, is what retailers create beyond the tennis court.

“If you look around the precinct, probably 75% of the color and the fan experience is driven by partners,” he said. “They’re not just setting up retail footprints and bars; they are bringing in talent…They’re giving products away, having selfie moments. There’s fun VR and integrated activations. If we’re going to give them a footprint and a lot of real estate, we really want them to enhance the fan experience.”

Brands with bigger budgets often amplify that experience by tapping celebrity talent. In recent years, that has included appearances by Jackie Chan, brought in by an AO partner, and Liam Hemsworth, who attended via Ralph Lauren.

“Five years ago, they would buy their sponsorship, then go and buy media to amplify it and we’d probably be quite hands-off on the media amplification, but now we’re actually running programs of talent coordination with some of those partners,” Campbell said.

But moving forward and as of right now, Campbell said, AO’s primary priority is to bring in brands that it can “leverage globally.”

While the tournament takes place in Melbourne, roughly 30% of tickets sold internationally come from the US, and 40% of the overall audience comes from China, where AO already has seven or eight partners.

“We’re particularly focused on capturing the attention of the US fans that might want to create a bucket list experience and come to the AO, and global or US brands are a big part of that,” Campbell said.

Other countries on Campbell’s radar include Brazil, Japan, and India. And as the Australian Open continues to expand its global reach, landing a big-ticket retail partner with worldwide scale remains one of its strongest plays for breaking into new markets.